Tarang, who has served over a decade with FrieslandCampina (parent company of Dutch Lady) stressed the importance of applying the ‘curse-cure-care’ strategy when normalcy gets hit. “It’s easy for leaders to play the victim and curse the situation when things go wrong. Instead, finding out what you can do about the situation will do better. Caring for your people is as important as communicating and explaining to them where we are and what we are going to do about it. The cure starts when you look for opportunities. Most of the time, the tone of voice of the leader is extremely important in order to help people find answers to the issue,” he noted.
As no leader has ever been criticized for saying too much during a crisis, Tarang firmly believes that a leader’s words should equally touch the mind and the heart. “It’s imperative to address why we are doing it, what we are doing about it and how we are going to do it while communicating. Organisations should know why they exist and what their purpose is. Then it’s not difficult to come up with ideas on how to execute them. It’s the time to give your workforce more autonomy, sense of belonging and communicate continuously,” he pointed out.
By far, the COVID-19 crisis is the only one that has gripped the whole world in a state of rigorous lockdown. While challenges have resulted in a loss of lives, change in patterns and reorganization of businesses, both panellists pointed out a few things that would remain as life lessons. “Never underestimate your team, so many of them have stepped up in the face of this crisis. Even as we crib, we need to think of those countries whose situation is far worse than ours. Crisis or not, sometimes, we do need to celebrate the small things in life,” assured Yong.
Tarang, who also echoed Yong’s thoughts, stressed the importance of certain crisis factors by giving an example of the acronym POS, usually used to denote ‘Point of Sale’ in a retail transaction. “P is for the power of the people which you should never undermine. Respect for my staff has grown multifold during this crisis and it has shown me that people can make all the difference. O, for me, is an opportunity because every issue throws up opportunities. S means speed and as I say, ‘speed is my best friend, perfection is my enemy’ during a crisis,” he added. He also recognized the importance for businesses to stay prepared so that they can streamline themselves whenever things go volatile.